Immigration Judge Clears Deportation of Wisconsin Mosque President

An immigration judge has cleared the way for federal authorities to deport the Palestinian-born president of Wisconsin's largest mosque, handing the Trump administration another win in its widening push to remove foreign nationals that agencies and courts deem a national security risk.

Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jayme Salinardi ruled Tuesday that Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, is deportable, his legal team confirmed Wednesday. The decision came after hearings that opened in July in Chicago, where the government argued that Sarsour -- a lawful permanent resident who has lived in the United States for more than three decades -- should lose his green card and be removed.

Sarsour was arrested by immigration agents on March 30 and held for more than 80 days at the Clay County Jail in Indiana before a federal judge ordered his release in June while the case proceeded. The removal fight continued in the immigration court, where the government pressed its bid to strip his residency.

A Cold War-Era Authority Put Back to Work

The ruling rests on a Cold War-era provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that lets the government act against foreign nationals on ideological and national security grounds. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a memorandum in 2025 finding Sarsour deportable under that authority, and the immigration judge gave heavy deference to the determination.

That approach fits a broader pattern. The administration has revived a set of long-dormant legal tools in its enforcement campaign, including a first-ever case before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a special tribunal created decades ago but never used until now.

Officials argue the shift is overdue and necessary, saying too many dangerous individuals slipped through a system that had grown slow and permissive. Each removal, they contend, is a step toward restoring credibility to immigration law.

What the Government Alleges

Homeland Security officials accuse Sarsour of misrepresenting his history on immigration forms to obtain his green card. A department spokesperson has described him as a "terrorist who was convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces."

That conviction sits at the center of the government's case. Federal authorities say the omission and the underlying conduct disqualify him from the residency he has held for years.

Sarsour's attorneys dispute the framing. They argue the government has known about the conviction for years and only moved to deport him after he became a visible voice in pro-Palestinian advocacy, turning his activism into the real reason for his detention.

The Islamic Society of Milwaukee is the largest mosque in Wisconsin, and Sarsour's detention drew attention from civil liberties groups that cast the case as a test of how far the government will go in targeting speech it dislikes. Supporters of the administration counter that national security, not politics, drives the decision.

Appeal and What Comes Next

The judge set a 60-day deadline for Sarsour to file for relief from removal. His lead attorney, Patrick Taurel, said the team will most likely seek deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture -- an application similar to asylum that requires showing it is more likely than not that a person would be tortured in the country of removal.

A trial on that request is expected early next year, and Sarsour's legal team said it will appeal Tuesday's ruling. "We look forward to being vindicated on appeal," Taurel said.

Sarsour called the decision "deeply disappointing" but said he would not stop fighting. "I will continue fighting to defend the right to free speech and to stay in the country I have called home for more than three decades," he said.

The case now heads down an appellate path that could stretch for months, running alongside an enforcement surge that shows no signs of slowing. For the administration, the ruling marks the latest courtroom validation of a strategy built on using every available legal authority to remove those it considers a threat.